New Beginnings: The Story of MSAT

President and founder of Derry Software, Jim Derry, was taught the entrepreneurial spirit at a very young age by his peers and family. This spirit was guided by his father’s idea to buy a service station and divide the duties and responsibilities among each member of the family. The idea of his family owning a business and running it together revealed to Jim his passion for hard work, entrepreneurship, and determination. From a very young age, Jim was taught to work and work hard.

Jim eventually followed in his father and brother’s footsteps by
joining the military. He signed up for
the Army and became a Field Artilleryman. His recruiter gave him the
opportunity to work on computers in the artillery. Jim’s drill sergeant
continued to shape his entrepreneurial spirit: “My drill sergeant made us all
rub our heads when we got to Basic Training. He told us that was our computer
and that he made us wear a Steel Pot helmet to protect it.” Jim was also taught
in basic training that if you do what you are told, if you learn the process,
and if you work hard, you can be very successful in whatever process it may be.

After 10 years in the Army, Jim joined
the National Guard. In 2004, he applied for a position as a Criminal Analyst
with the Counterdrug Task Force. His focus was primarily on managing the
accuracy and completeness of the data entered into a law enforcement
intelligence database for the Tennessee Dangerous Task Force. Compared to his
military background, the new local law enforcement community introduced Jim to
an entirely new set of cultures, processes, and people. However, Jim also was
introduced to the information related challenges experienced by local law
enforcement and government agencies. Among these challenges were a lack of
information sharing, resource availability, and access to important
information.

Over the next fifteen years, as
computer technology improved, Jim oversaw changes to intelligence systems used
by law enforcement. He obtained his Project Management Professional
certification and incorporated these skills to the software development
lifecycle, improving his and the team’s efficiency. Jim learned what
requirements were necessary to report information and where gaps existed for
local law enforcement officers in using their information. Some of the most
significant problems Jim faced at the local level were requiring officers to submitting
similar reports to different systems, using proprietary systems that don’t
share information, and lacking personnel necessary to perform all the
information related requirements.

Jim also recognized that all law
enforcement officers are not wired to conduct database searches and work with
computers all day; they don’t always have time to conduct the many searches for
information that are needed to develop a comprehensive intelligence picture. As
Jim continued to see the problems, he decided to do something about it.

The University of Chattanooga Gary W.
Rollins College of Business and The Veteran Entrepreneurship Program gave Jim
the training and mentorship he needed to create Derry Software, LLC. The company mission is to help people get
better access to their information. Jim knew his expertise was law enforcement
intelligence and information systems. He realized a need in this field was
access to information. Jim’s solution
is a new product developed by Derry Software named MSAT (Multi-Source Analysis
Tool).

MSAT was
created with specific goals. It had to be simple, accurate, fast, and
affordable. It also needed to add value to investigations, while allowing them
to obtain and use all their information. With access to better data, law
enforcement can optimize their performance and uphold a safer community. Go
check out how MSAT utilizes simultaneous and synchronized searches, simplified
summaries, and more! Start solving cases faster and more efficiently with MSAT.

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